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J÷r­gar­ Map of Week #95 - Royal County

With the 95th Map of the Week we take our first look at the Slovanian Royal County.

Prokop, count of the Royal County, is one of the more corrupt rulers of Slovania, although his corruption has brought him only modest wealth. Among the four counties and the march, Prokop rules over the smallest population. He also has the least to offer those who would do under-the-table business with him. His best product in this respect is his willingness to not see things. The best reason to buy that service from him is the fact that Prokop's army is 100 head stronger than those of the other three counts or the border margrave. He can deal with those who have something to hide, if he wishes to do so.

The economy of the Royal County is limited mainly to wood from the Southwood and cattle and wool products from the western grazing land along the Leipt or Lightning River on the kingdom's western border. There are but three settlements of any size in the Southwood: The county seat Southwood Fortress as well as the West Fortress and the Storm Fortress. In addition to the three fortresses, Prokop also rules over a dozen or so lumbering and woodworking settlements within the Southwood. There are some 100 settlements in the grazing lands to the west, but all of them are ranching hamlets and thorps that have long, unpopulated stretches of prairie and grassland between them. Cattle graze north of the royal seat, sheep south of Novřdomov. Where soils are good, crops and grains also are grown.

In the village ruin Sawblade in the Southwood some 50 miles/80 km north of his ruling seat of Southwood Fortress, Prokop is ignoring the Society of Immortal Darkness, a growing sect of black necromancers that serves the dark draug Mřsing in the ruins of Garnd'is Crossing in the Ăsir Devastation.
Prokop is ignoring the Dark sect because it is supplementing the silver and gold in his treasury. Prokop considers the society to be nothing more than an irritating coven of insane wizards that does no great harm beyond the occasional kidnapping of Slovßnski commoners. He is unaware that the secret sect is beginning to spread like a slow cancer through the entire kingdom, luring power-seeking wizards into its folds and setting the stage for the development of Mřsing's strange and evil new religion.

In the heart of the eastern Southwood, there once was an Ăsir military outpost and supporting village known as the Forest Watch. It was much more a training facility than a watchpost, despite its name. Before the fall of the empire, an unfortunate lightning strike hit a watchtower and set it ablaze. All of the village's buildings except the keep were made of wood and burnt to the ground. The stone-walled keep survived, but those who took refuge within it died from the heat and smoke of the surrounding fire. The outpost was abandoned by the Ăsir. When the Slovania came later, they ignored the ruin of the remaining keep. Gurźagh, one of the deep devils in the service of the devil Gadreel in Novřdomov, has a special mission, and the tale of the razing of Forest Watch made the ruin a particularly attractive site for its operation, as far as Gurźagh is concerned. Forest Watch not only is isolated in the Southwood and reachable only by a foot path, but it also has the quality of having been destroyed by fire. Building a team of arsonist agents is Gurźagh's mission. Its agents pose no immediate threat to Slovania. Gadreel wants Gurźagh to train his agents secretly and without interference. Therefore, the greater devil has ordered the deep devil to see to it that his trainees cause no problems and do no damage within Slovania. Gadreel's target is in the south, the troubled Kingdom of Windland, on the continent of Blueland.

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